When I walked into my advisery on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I was disappointed to see empty chairs. To be fair, the total count of my advisery was higher than other senior adviseries, at a whopping 16 out of 24 students, but I still found myself ashamed of New Trier’s senior class and student body.

On January 12, an article titled ‘High School Forces Kids to Attend ‘Racial Identity’ Classes on MLK Jr. Day’ was posted on Breitbart News Network, a conservative news and opinion website. The article took statements and session descriptions from the New Trier website that sounded more inflammatory than the actual content of the sessions. Titles of sessions such as ‘Why Do I Have to Feel Guilty for Being White?’ and ‘What is Your Privilege?’ were used as examples to support the “liberal agenda” that was criticized in the comments at the bottom of the article. I have to admit when I first saw the titles of these sessions, I was surprised by the aggressive language that was used. But, upon a second look at the descriptions, I realized the titles didn’t seek to lambast students for being white or privileged. For instance, the session ‘Why Do I Have to Feel Guilty for Being White?’ discussed the role white guilt plays on the road to progress, not the common misconception that it “attacked” New Trier students for being caucasian.

The article also contained anonymous quotes from “concerned New Trier parents” who contacted Breitbart in outrage over the idea that New Trier, would require students to attend the day. To me, this is the definition of cowardice. While everyone has a right to their opinion, hiding behind the cloud of anonymity, especially when it’s deliberately inflammatory, is just wrong.

Three days after the initial Breitbart article was posted online, junior Celia Buckman wrote a blog post for the Huffington Post titled: ‘Sorry Breitbart–White People Should Talk About Race.’ In the post, Buckman addressed the “haters” at Breitbart, citing three specific reasons why New Trier needed to host this day. One specific reason she claimed was citing the lack of diverse voices in the education at New Trier. “I can name every black or hispanic classmate and teacher I’ve ever had on one hand. We’re missing diverse voices in our education, and although one day of discussions isn’t nearly enough, it’s a good place to start,” Buckman wrote. Buckman had the courage to say what the majority of the student body was thinking after they saw the Breitbart article, so kudos to her for taking the risk and speaking her mind.

Shortly after her blog post was published, Breitbart found the post and exposed it to the viewers of the Breitbart site. While the post didn’t say anything besides where Buckman’s post could be found, the commenters deliberately attacked her and her writing. The majority of the comments are from presumably well-educated adults that personally attacked Buckman for being brave enough to express her opinion.

While the Martin Luther King Jr. seminar day didn’t run as smoothly as planned, with AV connectivity problems in the Gates Gym and McGee Theatre, the smaller classroom sessions were worth it. When talking to my fellow advisees, they all agreed that the opening session watching the TED talk was among the most valuable parts of the day. So if you were one of the students who stayed home watching Netflix, or were dragged to various doctor’s appointments, take some time to think about your place in future conversations about race. New Trier took a huge step towards racial awareness Monday, and while one day won’t change everything, what matters is that we’ve started the conversation.